Category Archives: observations

I bought a Honda CR-V about a year ago – after owning two Jeep Cherokees in a row. I wish I could have gotten a third Cherokee, because over the past year I’ve not been very happy with the CR-V. Below is a list (in no particular order) of things I don’t like about it, and some things I do. I tried to only include objective things, and not just things that I liked better about the Jeep.

Bad things

the windshield wiper controls (sticking out of the steering column) work opposite of what I would expect – you move it down to turn it on and increase speed, and move it up for slower speeds and to turn it off. Also, when it’s in the “off” position, you can push it up to make the wipers go just once – except, there’s no real indicator that it’s in the off position, so sometimes I think it’s off and it’s not

the speedometer is marked at 20, 40, 60, 80, with no numbers for at 30, 50, 70, etc. The problem with this is most US speed limits are 35, 45, 55, etc, so when you glance down to check your speed to see if you’re doing 35, you have to calculate whether or not the needle is 3/4 the way between 20 and 40

the dome light stays on for 30 seconds after turning car off. I hate this because I’ll be all the way across the parking lot and away from my car, yet anyone near it can clearly see what’s inside

daytime running lights on all the time. This just seems like a waste to me. It also means I can’t sit somewhere to eat lunch in the car with it running, because the lights being on makes it looks like I might move at any time

dome light comes on as soon as you take the key out, rather than when you open the door. Also annoying. Anything that takes control away from me in favor of “convenience” annoys me

the roof luggage racks too close together. Serious, they’re about two feet apart, which means any large load is basically secured at one point. Stupid

the antenna is center back of roof, making it hard to put large flat loads on top – something like a mattress or couch or 4×8 sheet of plywood. Or even one kayak – nothing can be centered on the roof, because the antenna is in the way

6-disc CD changer is extremely slow to load or switch between discs. It would be faster to have a single CD player and let me just change discs myself

the scan stop on the radio is too long. It’s like ten seconds, rather than three. Which means, if you put the radio on scan, you have to listen to terrible stuff for a full seven seconds after you’ve decided you don’t like it. Or do what I do, and just keep hitting the scan button to turn scan off and back on, to move to the next station

the keys are too big – they have the built in remote unlock, which means it is very bulky and uncomfortable to keep in your pocket. Even the “valet” key is too big to comfortably fit in a pocket – and forget about hiding a spare somewhere

oh, and the RFID in the key means replacements have to be done by dealer and cost $50

only the driver door has lock – not even the rear hatch has a way to unlock with a key. This annoys me because I carry the valet key instead of the super-huge one with the remote unlock buttons, which doesn’t fit in my pocket. This means that I can’t unlock the passenger door for anyone who is with me, nor can I just unlock the rear hatch when I’m carrying something big that I want to put in there

the fold-away back seats are poorly designed – they don’t fold flat, they block access the back when they are folded up (I can’t reach my arm back there without lifting up off the seat, and they use a stupid strap to hold them up when folded away so they don’t slam back down

the all-wheel drive only kicks in after the car starts to slip – which means I’m already off my steep icy driveway before I get traction (the Jeep’s 4-wheel drive, that I could shift into manually when I knew I’d need it, is much better)

it has a huge windshield, which means clearing off lots of snow/ice – which is hard for even me to reach

the gas cap has inside-the-car release lever, which is dumb and I never remember to flip it

the center console wastes lots of space because it folds down – either you can’t put anything under it to reserve the ability to fold it down, or you lose the ability to fold it down

no 24-hour time setting on clock

no intermittent wipers – just off, low, high, and super-high, and it’s rare that any of their speed settings actually fit the conditions

there is no way to check time when car is off – how dumb is it that you can’t push a button on the dash to make the clock display the time? You have to insert the key and switch it to accessories, and then wait of course, to know what time it is

very bad visibility when backing up, especially into a parking spot – it’s hard to see around, but very difficult to see down. Actually, visibility is pretty poor all around, with lots of blind spots

passenger seat airbag has a light that lights up OFF when it is off. Why is it important to communicate this to me? Anytime there is some – but not a lot of – weight on passenger seat (like groceries, books, etc), that OFF light comes on. And when I go over a bump and the weight is relived from the seat, the light goes off. Then it comes back on again when it senses the weight. So constantly, right in the top center of the dashboard, a light is flashing on and off for no useful reason at all

the windshield wipers are different sizes, which means I have twice as many lengths to remember when I go to replace them

you can’t sit on the bumper. When I’m taking a break from shoveling the driveway or working in the yard, sitting on the bumper was a pretty convenient place to rest – not any more!

I hate the power window control that makes it go all the way up or down – it’s really not so much trouble to hold the button myself for those few seconds, and it’s really easy to accidentally hit the auto button so I’m constantly fighting with it to open the window just a crack

the rear side windows are blocked by headrests, so when I turn around in the driver’s seat to back up, I can’t really see to the sides at all

steering wheel blocks some dashboard gauges – this might be due to my height (6′), but I think it would be true for anyone

back windows don’t go all the way down – this is annoying, and sometimes I need to stick long things out of the window (like tools or boards or something) and I hate having to rest them on the glass

there is no room under or next to the front seats – more storage is always good, and these are obvious spots for storage

the spare tire is under the floor in the back – which means if you have anything in there, it all has to come out to access the spare tire (like, if you’re on a trip and blow a tire on the highway). Also, it turns out the wheel well for the spare is not big enough to hold a full-size spare. This CR-V came with a donut, and when I replace it with a full-size spare, the lid to that compartment doesn’t close, and instead rests on the sidewall of the spare

the body is all shapey and molded to be aerodynamic, which means the read lights are right in line with the rest of the body, which means they get covered by snow and ice easily, which means you pretty much have to clean off the entire back of the car, not just the read window

and one intangible: there are so many identical CR-Vs out there, it feel like it has no character or personality. I liked my Jeeps because they were my Jeeps, and everyone could recognize them as that. This CR-V is just anonymous and blah

Good things

the digital dashboard has two odometers, which you can use to range an entire trip as well as individual tanks of gas

the digital dashboard also includes range estimation for the amount of gas you have left (which isn’t entirely accurate, but nice nonetheless), and also show you your average mileage for your current speed (also inaccurate as a snapshot, but seems more accurate when looked at for an entire trip)

the read hatch has multiple hand-holds inside that makes closing it easier

there are two glove boxes, and storage is always good

rear wiper is smart – it seems to turn on when the front wipers are, on and you shift into reverse, so you can see out the back window

Whenever something happens to someone at work – they get hired, they get married, they get sick, their child graduates, their parent dies, they retire, whatever – someone buys a card, passes it around, and everyone has to sign it.

This annoys me. I don’t like cards in the first place, and I certainly don’t see the need for 30+ people to all write variations of the same theme. Examples:

We’ll miss you!

You’ll be missed!

We miss you already!

Won’t be the same without you!

Please don’t go!

Blah blah blah!

For years I’ve tried to be creative and original, but now I just don’t care. It’s not that I like my coworkers any less – I just don’t see any value in these cards.

As you might expect, with most of my coworkers, this argument doesn’t hold water. So, I came up with a new card signing strategy.

I noticed that, after half or whatever of the staff have signed the card, pretty much everything you could say has already been said. Subsequent coworkers always read the previous comments and react, “oh, so-and-so already said what I was going to say.” (As if this matters.)

But it occurred to me that when the person of honor reads the card, they have no idea who signed first or last. So since the signing order doesn’t matter, I try to make sure whatever I write will be read first. That way, even if I steal the most sentimental message already written in the card, the person reading the card will read mine first, and then when they see the other one, they’ll think, “oh, person #2 just copied that.”

Tactics for primary visibility:

Write in large letters

Write in a bright and/or unusual color

Write your message in the top-center of the card

Include a little artistic squiggly design or wavy underlines or flowers doodle next to what you write

Of course, make sure your name is large and legible

This strategy requires a fine balancing act. You need to wait until most other people have signed the card, so you have the most material to chose from. However, the longer you wait, the less space you’ll have for a large letters, and the more chance all the prime spots will be taken.

But again, if you sign too early, someone could pull this trick on you so that their message is the first one the person will read. You can’t let that happen – you’ve worked far too hard appearing to be sincere.